Rear door latching means



June 15, 1965 E R, BQECK ETAL 3,189,378

REAR DOOR LATCHING MEANS Original Filed May l1. 1960 ATTO RNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,189,378 FEAR DOGR LATCHlNG MEANS Ellsworth R. Boeck,Buffalo, and Robert II. Walter, Ken. more, NX., assiguors to TruckEquipment Co., Inc., Bualo, NSY. riginal application May 1l, 1960, Ser.No. 23,339, new Patent No. 3,143,786, dated Sept. l5, 1964. Divided andthis application Dee. 27, 1963, Ser. No. 340,841 2 Claims. (Cl. 296-56)This application is a division of our copending application, Serial No.28,339, led May 11, 1960, now Patent No. 3,148,786. 'A

This invention relates to refuse collection vehicles and particularly toimprovements in refuse collection vehicle bodies of the so-called packertype.

Packer bodies or compaction bodies for refuse collecting andtransporting vehicles are in general use in the refuse collection eldand one form of packer body has side doors near the front of the bodyfor introducing refuse and a packer plate which moves rearwardly withinthe body to compact refuse toward the rear of the body. The refuse isemptied from the body by opening a rear door and ejecting the refuse byfurther operation of the rearwardly movable packer plate.

The refuse packer body of the present invention is of the foregoinggeneral type and presents a number or" important improvements inconstruction and operation of such apparatus. In the form shown hereinby way of example the packer body comprises generally a hollow cylinderand the construction and arrangement of the body itself and the packerplate mounting and moving means is such as to provide maximum strength,relative freedom from distortion due to loading and packing forces, andall-around eciency and economy in the design of the body per se and thevarious operating components, mainly the packer plate and its operatingmeans and the cooperating rear door employed in ultimately ejecting thecontents of the body.

In addition to the novel structural and physical arrangement of thepacker body and the reciprocating packer plate, the present inventionprovides novel hydraulic operation of the packer plate and the unloadingor ejecting door at the rear of the body and provides a novel operatingand control arrangement for these instrumentalities.

ln this divisional application the object of the invention is to providenovel rear door latching or locking means.

Various other objects and advantages of the refuse packer bodyconstruction and arrangement of the present invention will appear tothose skilled in this art from a study of the exemplary embodimentdepicted in the accompanying drawings and are referred to in the ensuingdescription.

A single embodiment of the principles of the present invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail in thefollowing specification but it is to be understood that such embodimentis by way of example and illustration only and that the principles ofthe invention are not limited to this embodiment nor otherwise than asdefined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

. FIG. 1 is a general side elevational view of one form of the refusepacker body of the present invention with portions thereof broken awayfor added illustration; and FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transversecross-sectional view taken approximately on the line II--II of FIG. 1.

Like characters of reference denote like parts throughout the severalfigures of the drawings. In the refuse packer body which is illustratedherein to exemplify the principles of the present invention a main bodyor shell structure is designated generally by the numeral 20 andcomprises a plurality of arcuately formed metal sheets or plates 21which are welded'or otherwise secured to various connecting andreinforcing rings which are of angle iron cross-section and aredesignated, from front to rear of the body in FIG. l, by the numerals 22throughZS. A relatively heavy ring member 29 is welded to the rear endof the body shell to form a seat for a rear door component designatedgenerally in FIG. 1 by the numeral 343. p

A track 31 in the form of an I-beam is attached to the interior Wall atthe top of body structure 2li to give guiding support to the upperportion of a longitudinally movable packer plate designated generally bythe numeral 32 and track 31 extends rearwardly beyond body 20 into thegenerally convex rear door 3@ as indicated in FIG. l.

An external reinforcing member 33 of T-shape in crosssection in thepresent instance, extends along the top of body structure 2li,principally for additional reinforcement of the forward portion of thebody structure and incidentally to provide a trackway for side doorstructure which will be described later herein. Member 33 is welded tothe upper surface of track 31 to be substantially integral therewith.

A pair of longitudinally extending half round members 34 at the interiorof the body structure provide rails or trackways for lower rollers 3Sprovided at the base of packer plate 32 and a pair of externallongitudinal angle members 36 provide ledges which seat upon thelongitudinal rail or channel members of a conventional motor truckchassis upon which the packer body of the present invention is mounted.i

Referring particularly to FIGS. l and 2, the packer plate 32 comprises apair of spaced generally circular plate members il and 42 held in rigidspaced relation by intervening structural members indicated generally at43, the whole being welded to form an integral rigid packer plateweldment. The fixed welded structure of packer plate 32 includes anupper central longitudinal channel member 45 and a pair of lowerlongitudinal channel members 46.

A pair of longitudinally spaced flanged rollers 48 mounted withinchannel member 45 engage along track 31 and longitudinally spacedrollers rotatably mounted within the `lower channel Imembers 46 havepreviously been designated 35. Rollers 35 have their peripheriesconcaved to track along the half round members 34. It will be noted thatthe lower portion of the rear wall of packer plate 32 has anoutwardlyflaring wall` portion 5t) which exerts a material raising component offorce on the refuse as the packer plate moves rearwardly and this forcecooperates with the particular contour of the rear door Sil, as willappear later herein.

A relatively wide channel member 51 extends obliquely from the forwardportion of upper channel member 4S toa generally central portion of thepacker plate structure generally to stiffen the structure. The lower endof the channel member 51 cooperates in forming an enclosure 53 whichincludes bearing means 54 for pivotal engagement with the small end of aseries of telescoping piston and cylinder members designated generallyand collectively by the numeral 55.

it will be noted from FiG. l that the upper track 3l and lower halfround tracks Sliextend rearwardly beyond the body shell 2t? and into theconvex rear door 3@ to permit the packer plate to be moved rearwardlyuntil its rear portion projects beyond the body shell to facilitatecleaning the interior of the latter.

ATherear door 3b has side wall portions Se which comprise cylindricalcontinuations of the body shell 29 and a rear wall 57 which is curvedoutwardly as viewed in side elevation in FlG. l. The rear wall 57 doesnot require compound curvature but merely comprises a flat plate bent tothe contour shown in FlG. l. However, its intersection with therearwardly extending cylindrical wall portions 56 give the door agenerally convex exterior surface.

This contour of rear door 3@ cooperates with the flaring lower wallportion Sti of the packer plate 32 so that rearward movement of thepacker plate with the door closed tends to feed the refuse upwardlywhereby the packed refuse lls the interior of the body more eicientlythan if this upward camming action on the refuse did not talle place.

VThe usual packing action in conventional compaction bodies of the priorart results in a much greater refuse density toward the bottom of theload and the foregoing cooperation between the respective facingcontours of the packer plate and the interior of the rear door does muchto ameliorate this tendency and thereby increase the pay load of thebody.

4'fhe body shell 2@ and rear door 3@ have cooperating hinge formingparts designated and 6l respectively which yare pivoted as, at 62 inFlG. l for door opening and closing movements. The door 3d naturallygravitates toward a closed position and is opened by a pair ofoppositely disposed hydraulic cylinders o3 which are pivoted as at estand have slotted members 65 at the outer ends of their piston rods whichengage pins do projecting from opposite sides of the door dit.

The means for latching the lower portion vof door 3@ in closed positionwil now be described. Since this latching means bears the full force ofthe Compacting pressure of packer plate 32 it is obvious that secure andrigid latching must be assured. C-shaped latching members iti arepivoted to the rear portion of body shell E@ at opposite sides thereofas at 7l and the opposite ends of the latching members 70 are providedwith rollers '72 which are adapted to engage over a radial flange -twhich extends about door Sti and thus clamp door iange '7d to the ringmember 29 at the rear of body shell Ztl. The seating surface for rollers72 on flange '2%. may be inclined or curved so that the rollers cam orwedge the flange 74 against ring member 2.9 during latching operation.

Means are provided for controlling the condition of the latch members'70 from a position substantially forwardly of the rear of the body forreasons of general convenience and more especially since unloadingoperationsfrequently take place with the rear of the body extending overthe edge of a pit or other declivity. ln the illustrated instance alongitudinal control rod 77 at one side of the body controls thecondition of both clamp members 76, as will now appear.

The forward end of control rod 77' is provided with a rack formation '7Sand is guided for longitudinal movement in mesh with a pinion (notshown) which is coaxial with and carried by a handwheel 79. Thusrotation of the handwheel 79 moves the control rod f7 selectivelyforwardly and rearwardly. A removable locking pin may be provided forpreventing operation of the handwhcel 79 or longitudinal movement ofcontrol rod i7 when the als at one end of each to opposite sides of thebody shell 2@ l l cated in dot and dash lines at latch members 7d are inlatching position, excepting by deliberate removal or release of thelocking pin.

Referring now to FlGS. l and 2, particularly the latter, a pair of rockshafts 8i? and ill extend obliquely beneath body 2d and are supported bybearing brackets 52, 33 and mounted at the under side of body 20. rlfheinner adjacent ends of the rock shafts il@ and 81 are provided withfixed offset bearing brackets 86 and the end portions of a bent shaftmember 7 are disposed rotatably in the bearing brackets 3o. Thus therock shafts 80 and Sl are connected for joint rotation andthe outer endof rock shaft d@ is provided with a rock arm 99, the outer end of whichis pivotally connected to the rear end of control rod 77. The rockshafts titi and Sl are provided with rock arms and links 92 are pivotedat their opposite ends to the outer ends of the rock arms 91 and toprojecting lugs 93 on each of the C-shaped latching members '70. Fromthe above it will be seen that rotation of handwheel 79 in a clockwisedirection as viewed in FlG. l will move control rod '77 rearwardly andthus rotate the rock shafts Si) land 'eP-l in a clockwise direction andswingthe latching members 7@ clockwisely to open positions.

lt will further be noted that the nature of the C-shaped latchingmembers is such that, when closed, the ring 29 of the body 2@ and theflange 74 of the rear door 3i) are clamped directly between the ends ofthe latching members 70 themselves and that all rearward forces tendingto open the door 35i are absorbed directly by the latching members 7i)and are not transmitted to the foregoing control linkage. Furthermore,in closed position the rock arms @l and links 92 move at least to andpreferably slightly past dead center position so that any tendency ofthe latching members 7@ to move toward open position inadvertently isprevented.

The compacting forces tending to distort the door 3i) are verysubstantial and to further guard against distortion thereof dowel meansare preferably provided. While FlG. 2 is a cross section rof body memberZtl lookingforward, the ring 2? at the rear of body 2@ is shown in dotand dash lines and three dowel openings therein are indi- Three dowelscarried by iiange '.74 of rear door 3@ enter the yopenings 9d when doorElli is closed.

We claim:

ll. ln a refuse compacting vehicle body, a longitudinally extending bodyshell of generally circular cross-section, a material discharging doorat the rear thereof hinged to to the upper portion of said body to swingupwardly and rearwardly to open position, a pair of latch members atlower portions of said body at opposite sides thereof adapted to engagesaid door for latching the same in closed position, a pair of latchoperating shafts for simultaneously latching and unlatching said pair oflatch members,`

said pair of shafts lying transversely along the underside of said bodyto form a shallow V as viewed from the rear, each of said shafts havingoperating connection with one of said latch members, and `meansconnecting said shafts for simultaneous synchronous rotative movement,said means comprising an offset bearing formation fixed to the inner endof each shaft and a short V-shaped connecting shaft having its oppositeends rotatively and slidably engaged with said bearing formations, andoperating means at one side of said body engaging an end portion of oneof said shafts for simultaneously rotating the pair of shafts betweenlatching and unlatching positions.

2. In a refuse compacting vehicle body a longitudinally extending bodyshell of generally circular cross-section, a material discharging doorat an end thereof hinged to said body, a pair of circumferentiallyspaced latch members adapted to engage said door for latching the samein closed position, a pair of latch operating shafts for simultaneouslylatching and unlatching said pair of latch members, said pair of shaftslying transversely adjacent to said body to form an obtuse angle asviewed from an end ofsaid body, each of said shafts having operatingconnec- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS smith292.-26 Lewis et al 214-82 Holm 292-79 Williams 21482 Totaro et al298-38 X HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primay Examiner.

1. IN A REFUSE COMPACTING VEHICLE BODY, A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BODYSHELL OF GENERALLY CIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION, A MATERIAL DISCHARGING DOORAT THE REAR THEREOF HINGED TO TO THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID BODY TO SWINGUPWARDLY AND REARWARDLY TO OPEN POSITION, A PAIR OF LATCH MEMBERS ATLOWER PORTIONS OF SAID BODY AT OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF ADAPTED TO ENGAGESAID DOOR FOR LATCHING THE SAME IN CLOSED POSITION, A PAIR OF LATCHOPERATING SHAFTS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY LATCHING AND UNLATCHING SAID PAIR OFLATCH MEMBERS, SAID PAIR OF SHAFTS LYING TRANSVERSELY ALONG THEUNDERSIDE OF SAID BODY TO FORM A SHALLOW V AS VIEWED FROM THE REAR, EACHOF SAID SHAFTS HAVING OPERATING CONNECTING WITH ONE OF SAID LATCHMEMBERS, AND MEANS CONNECTING SAID SHAFTS FOR SIMULTANEOUS SYNCHRONOUSROTATIVE MOVEMENT, SAID MEANS COMPRISING AN OFFSET BEARING FORMATIONFIXED TO